Building block and wall



Dec. 25, 1928.

H. L. STRAND v Filed July 15, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 #1 c k WMMZWW I NvE'. N'l'D WAys.

Dec 25, 1928.

H. L. STRAND BUILDING BLOCK AND WALL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1925 I I l I l l I I I l I INVEN+DYI u e V WW MMQS Patented Dec.

SEATES UNETEEE ewes HARRY L. STRAND, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, nssrenon or ONE-HALF 'ro LEO F.

' nMnnson, on nnooxnmn, rvrAssAoHUsnrTs.

BUILDING BLOCK AND WALL.

Application filed July 15, 1925.

This invention relates to building blocks and wall construction, and particularly to terra cot-ta or hollow tile building blocks used especially in backings for brick walls or veneers. An object of the invention is to provide an improved building block which will be more economical in use, will be capable of a greater variety of uses under didering conditions, and wherein walls con structed in part with said blocks will not only be cheaper to build but structurally stronger in the requisite directions.

Building blocks as hereto-fore constructed have been capable only of limited use because they have not had equal or substantially equal structural strength when placed in different positions or when sub ected to load for a portion only of their surface area. Furtlien more. as is well-known to those skilled in the art, terra cotta blocks have varied cor derably in dimensions as a result of ditl'eences in burning".

Blocks placed close to the fire and known to the trade as hard burned tile contract more than blocks placed at a t-ance from the.- tire. these latter blocks belt r known as light burned tile. These differences in the burning of the tile have result-ed in differences of dimensions. When cor of tile is being; laid, a light burned t stick up above the otl tiles in the course or project beyond them and it has been necessary to compensate in some way the difiterences in dimensions. This has been done by rejecting' the tile or trimming it oil or by filling up the dificre-nces with mortar. The building; block embodying my p 'esentinvention obviates these diiiiculties and is so constructed that; a light burned t le may be used in the same course with ha rd burned tile without resorting to any oi? the ciipedicnts mentioned and without incre pense or delay.

The invention will be fully under-stood from the following des ption when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

Serial No. 43,839.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a wall composed of building blocks and brick, the building blocks and filler blocks being constructed according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is perspective view of one of the building blocks.

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of a T- shaped filler block.

Fig. 5 is a view in filler block.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a double filler block.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating the method of using; my improved building block when there are variations in dimensions due to difference in burning.

8 is a vertical section of the thin wall in which building blocks are placed with the air passages in vertical position.

li ig 9 is a vertical section of a thick wall in which the blocks are placed with the'air passages in vertical position,

Fig. 10 is a vertical section of another thick wall.

it will be understood that the drawings merely illustrate the commonest combina tions produced by the use of building blocks embodying my present invention and that oth-ercombinations are possible Referring to the drawings and particulariv to Fig. 3, there is there shown a building block having four large air passages a. therethrough and two small central passages Z). The several passages are separated from each other by vertical webs and (l and a horizmr perspective of a plain ta! web The dimensions of the block as I actuaily onstruct it are l.2 Xll";}.;X$-'- square wall twelve inches plus and minus an amount suilicient to allow for variations in burning. The exterior of the block has four solid faces 7, g, 72. and i and two open faces. Two of the solid faces, namely 7' and It, are substantially square, while the other two solid faces 9 and i are rectangles. The open faces are also rectangles. It will be seen that the block is regular in shape there being no nonsymmetrical projections. The exterior of the solid faces of the block is preferably provided with dovetail grooves is, as shown in the drawings to interlock with the mortar.

In Fig. 4- there is shown a T-shaped filler block which is conveniently used in combination with the building blocks alreadv described particuhirly gvhen a veneer brick face is employed, the header Course of which is of Flemish bond. In Fig. 5 I have shown a straight filler block 13 of rectangular cross section. This block is convenient for filling in places at the rear of the header courses and spaces in the walls. It can be used in vertical or horizontal position as required and for pipe chases and the like.

In Fig. 6 there is shown-a double filler block 30 which is convenient for use in thick walls. It contains three longitudinal passages K, L and M and is constructed so that it can be broken apart along the line 0-0 to form two single filler blocks if desired.

In one type of wall such, for instance, as shown in Fig. 1, the building blocks are placed in a horizontal position, that is, with the air passages running horizontally and the suistantially square solid surfaces parallel with the face of the wall. Such a block is indicated at 12 in Fig. 1. It rests on a header course of brick 14 and the filler block 13. Resting on the header course are five courses of brick 15 the top of which is level with the top of the building block 12. Cu top again of the block 12 of the face courses 15 is another header course 14 and filler block 13. There is preferably left an air space 16 between the rear of the face courses and the front of the block 12. At 17 I have shown a floor beam resting on the top of one of the blocks 12.

It will be seen thatrthe rear end of the bricks forming the header course are supported on two webs c and of the building block while the load imposed by the floor beam is supported by the three webs c, and 1. By this arrangement the loads are thoroughly supported and properly distributed.

I will now describe typical walls embodyi -g my invention, referring 'rst to Figs. 1, 2 and 7. In this wall there is a front veneer of brick, there being five courses 15 between the header courses 1%. The header courses 14 are laid in Flemish bond, as shown in Fig. 2. The courses of building blocks in this wall are normally laid with the air passages running horizontally and the substantially square solid surfaces parallel with the face of the wall. Such block is designated 12 in 1. It 1 s on the header course of the filler block The tire 15 are separated from the lmilding oh. by an air space 16. This construction is continued throughout the wall. At 12" I have shown a floor beam resting on the top on one of the blocks 12. t will be seen that the rear end of the bricks forming the heac er course are supported by two webs of the building blockwhile the floor beam is supported on three webs, it being understood of course that the rear end of the header brick opposite the end of the floor beam is broken away.

At- 40 is shown one building block with its air passages in the vertical instead of the horizontal position. This is intended to rep resent a light burned tile. The diagram shown in Fig. 7 illustrates the method of procedure when such a burned tile is encountercd by the workman. It is assumed that the tiles in the course are being laid as shown at 11 and 42 with the air passages horizontal and their longest dimension in vertical position. Let it be assumed that having laid the tile 11, the workman encounters the tile 40 which is light burned and therefore when put in place sticks up above the neighboring tile 41, as indicated at 13 in dotted lines. Heretofore, under these conditions it has been necessary for the workman to reject the tile or else resort to some expedient such as cut ting off the top of the tile or bringing the adjacent tiles up to the level by the use of additional mortar. With the tile embodying my invention the workman turns the tile over 90 thus bringing its short dimension into vertical position and its long dimension into horizontal position. Its top will then be slightly either below the top of the adja cent tiles or approximately on a level therewith. In the former case this is usually compensated for by mortar since only one tile requires to be built up instead of the entire course. When turned in this manner the tile may crowd the next tile 12 along slightly but this is readily taken care of by reducing the mortar between successive tiles or at the end of the course.

In practice, this difference horizontally in the wall causes no serious ditticulty although the some variation or difference vertically in the wall has heretofore caused a great deal of dilhculty and unnecessary expense on account of the practice of workmen in shattering and trimming off the tops of blocks.

The spaces beyond the header courses are filled with tiller blocks, as for instance, a. T-shaped filler block 90 shown in Fig. 4-. where the header course is of Flemish bond or single filler block 13 shown in Fig. 5 where a simple header course is employed.

Referring now to Fig. 8 there is shown a inc wall in which the building blocks 12 are placed on their end, that is, with the air passages in vertical position. This wall is constructed like the wall already described and it will be seen that the floor beam 17 is supported on three vertical webs 0, (Z and it, while the header courses between the floor beams are supported on two webs c and f.

In Fig. 9 there is shown a wall in which the building blocks 12 are placed on end as in Fig. 8 but with the substantially square solid surfaces and h at right angles to the face of the wall. This constriu-tion affords. a relatively thick wall in which the floor beams are supported by the webs (a and In this case the building block rests on a header course of brick l4 and two filler blocks 13, or on a double filler block as shown in Fig. (i.

In Fig. l() is shown a vertical section of a relatively thick wall in which the building blocks are laid with the air passages running horizontally but with the substantially square solid surfaces at right angles to the face of the wall. Between the header courses H in this type of wall one whole block and a portion of a block are employed. Such a portion is ind cated at B and is obtained by severing the block 2 on the plane XX in Fig. 2. In this case a filler block 30 constructed as shown in Fig. 6 is employed at the rear of the header course 14. This filler block is formed with a groove on the top and bottom surfaces and located centrally thereof whereby the block may be broken and only a portion of it used to fill small spaces or to provide for pipe chases. The broken portion may also be used as a filler for the thin wall shown in Figs. 1, 8 and 9.

The foregoing walls are typical but it will be understood that it is not necessary to ha :c all the building blocks in a wall vertical or horizontal but that various combinations and arrangements may be made. those. shown in Figs. 1. 8, 5) and 10 of the drawings being merely typical arrangements.

The building block embodying my inven tion is adapted for use in a wall as a. backing for a ireiletcrmincd number of superimposed bonded fac courses of brick, such as live courses. The block has an approximately sipiarc face. or wall, the required dimensions of which are determined by the known height of the bondcd far-c courses. In its manufacture the block is prc'l'ormcil with one cdgcol' the square face or wall a prctlctcrmincd amount shorter than the other edge of the square wall at right angles thereto, so that irrespective of whether the block turns out to be hard burned or light burned, one of said edges will, after burning, have substantially no greater length than the required square dimension whenever the length of the othe edge i ub tantially greater. or such as to cause the block to project a substantial distance above the top of the face courses What I claim 1. A wall construction comprising a brick facing composed of superimposed face courses of brick, a hollow building block forming a backing for said face courses, a header course of brick supported directly in part on said block, and a filler block in rear of the header course and supported on said building block, the latter having a pair of vertical webs supporting the filler block and spaced substanti ally the width of a pair of opposite walls of the tiller block.

2. A tile building block adapted for use in a wall as a backing for a pre-determined munber of superimposed bonded face courses of brick and formed with an approximately square wall of required dimensions to conform to said face courses, said block being pre-formed with one edge of the square wall a predetermined amount shorter than the other edge at right angles thereto to provide, when either light burned or hard burned, one of said edges with substantially no greater height than the said required square dimensions when the block, if turned at right angles, projects a substantial distance above the top of the face courses.

In a Wall construction, a plurality of superimposed bonded face courses of brick, a tile block supported in rear of said face courses and having an approximately square wall of required dimension to extend flush with the top and bottom of said face courses. said block having the sides of the square wall at right angles to each other preformed with different dimensions and whether light or hard burned, having one of said sides, when cxtei'iding vertically in the wall. substautially no greater in height than the height of said face courses when the block. if turned at right angles, projects a substantial distance above the top of the face courses.

4. In a. wall construction. a. plurality of superimposed bonded face courses of brick. a pluralityoftilebnildingblocks SHPPOYlOd side by side in rear of said face courses, and each having an approximately square wall parallel to and of approximately the height of the brick face courses, each tile block being preformed with one edge of the square wall substantially no greater than the height of the. face courses whenever the other edge of the square wall exceeds said height on account of variations in burning of the blocks. where y the block may be positioned with the shorter edge of the square wall extending vertically when the block, it turned at right angles, projects a substantial distance above the top of the face courses.

5. A wall construction comprising a brick facing composed of superimposed bonded face courses of brick, a hollow tile building Mock forming av hacking for said {are C(Hllst; and having four vertical Webs parallel to the 1" ace of the wall, a header course of brick sup ported in part on said block and in part on the face courses, a filler block in rear of the header course and supported on said building block, the latter having a pair of said vertical Webs aeeasis substantially ali ned with a pair of opposite vertical walls of the filler block and also having another pair of vertical webs supporting' the brick header course.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY L. STRAND. 

